Even the Warts

In today's New York Times, Gary Larson says "I think it’s possible to keep refining something until you’ve managed to kill it. Even the warts probably play a role." I mention it here for reasons you can discern if you "click" here, which I have no doubt you won't. As long as I am here (I don't "blog" anymore) I should mention watching HELLZAPOPPIN' (pictured) for the first time. Somebody asks for a light and Olsen or Johnson (I never figured out which was which - I'm going to ask Phil!) wheels out a giant cigarette lighter about five feet tall. As you know, I wrote a book about cigarette lighters a long time ago, and it used to be the case that I would encounter a cigarette lighter that should have gone in the book, but it was too late. And I used to feel bad, so I made a list. I don't feel bad anymore, but when you see a five-foot-tall cigarette lighter, you realize it should have gone into your book. And finally, this has nothing to do with books that have owls in them, another subject with which I am obsessed, but I was watching ONE HOUR WITH YOU and Jeanette MacDonald makes an unusual request of Maurice Chevalier: "Darling, look like an owl." Her request goes unfulfilled, I am sad to report, and Maurice Chevalier does not even attempt to look like an owl. In fact, he refuses! I kept waiting for the subject to come up again. It never did. :(